Summary:
Union General William S. Rosecrans discusses plans for movement in late April,
1862. He suggests that Fremont's troops, based in western Virginia, clear the
Shenandoah Valley and concentrate on Staunton.
Hon. E. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:
HARPER'S FERRY,
April 23, 1862.
I have my orders from you and Gen. Fremont's accord to take Blenker's division to Moorefield, which, unless otherwise directed, I shall do with the least possible delay. The supplies I am getting are necessary to fit the column for motion and campaign. I am determined to see that nothing necessary is wanting before I leave. Clothing, stationery, camp tools, and shelter-tents are now all ordered and under way. Battery horses will reach them to-morrow night. Have, from delicacy, said nothing to Gen. Fremont. My general views are as given in my report: A clearing of the valley and concentration of Fremont toward Staunton and on the railroad; Banks to incline over east and seize the Piedmont and threaten or take Gordonsville and the Kanawha Valley; to seize Lewisburg and support the forces breaking the Southwestern Virginia and Tennessee Railroad; ulterior movements contingent, but tending to mass the troops as much as requisite to supply each other and subsist. For goodness' sake order the plan of supplies proposed. No man of experience, knowing the people and country, can fail to approve it.
W. S. ROSECRANS,
Brig.-Gen., U. S. Army.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 12, Serial No. 18, Pages 100, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
